MORE than 20 community projects were handed some vital funding last weekend at the Our Voice, Our Choice, Our Port event.

Organised by Mutual Gain, a group aimed at building social cohesion, across four online events 24 projects received a share of a £100,000 grant provided by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

The event took the form of participatory budgeting, through which people in Newport were able to vote for the projects they wanted to receive funding. Each project presented a three-minute video before voters gave a score of one to five based on how valuable they felt it would be for the community.

Each proposal had to benefit at least one of eight community groups that were deemed to be the most likely to struggle coming out of the pandemic. Groups include LGBTQ+, Welsh language speakers and refugees and asylum seekers.

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Lead associate at Mutual Gain Andrew Fisher said: “Newport has had some real horrible stuff going on with Covid so it’s great to be able to shine the beacon on the area.

“It’s been such a pleasure working with the planning group. There’s a real commitment to help these vulnerable groups, much more than we are seeing anywhere else in the country.

“The whole process is about sharing information, making connections and building social capital.”

The winning proposals will have to provide a progress video every three months to ensure the work is being carried out as proposed.

There are four similar events scheduled to take place in Monmouthshire, Caerphilly, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent.

Among those who were successful in their bids was Anwara Begum, who was handed £4,000 to launch a support service in partnership with the maternity ward at the Royal Gwent Hospital for parents of premature babies, specifically those from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds whose first language may not be English.

“The project is close to my heart because I’ve had three premature babies," she said. "It was frightening to understand what was happening with my baby when he was taken to special care. I only got to see him after two days because I was in special care myself.

“I have always wanted to help people in our community. From a young age I was working in a medical centre where I would do interpreting. I would like to share my experience with new mothers.”

Another successful bid was from Kidscape, who will use the £6,950 award to develop their peer mentoring and community leader programmes.

Regional manager for Kidscape in Wales Carole Phillips said: “We are so grateful to the people of Newport for getting behind our work and supporting us.

“Both projects aim to create supportive communities that keep children and young people safe from bullying and harm. The funding will allow us to reach over 600 children throughout Newport.”

Elsewhere, Community House in Maindee received £10,000 to fix its hall ceiling.

Youth worker Sarah Miller said: “The diverse community of Maindee has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Coming into a bright, refurbished hall will lift the spirits of all who enter. For many, Community House is their second home - a haven against life's difficulties.”

Newport Uskmouth Rotary Club were yet another group to win funding, receiving £4,000 for their Laptops 4 Home Learning scheme. The money will be used to refurbish 200 laptops to be donated to local schools.

Club president Anne Jackson-Bass said: “We have been running this scheme since September 2020 and have already delivered a total of 246 laptops. With donations from the public we aim to deliver many more.”